In a classroom setting, children are most likely to model adult behavior. We, as future teachers, are going to be the model of the highest status in our classrooms. If we exhibit violent behavior then it gives our students the idea that violence is okay and will model our violent behavior. In a classroom, this could be related to bullying. If children see one person being mean or bullying another person and this person receives more attention, then other children may model the behavior of bullying. They may model bullying especially if the behavior isn't punished. Children are each other's models more than adults are because they're always going to be in each other's peer groups. They want acceptance within the group.
Large scale cultural factors may influence a classroom because boys have the impression they are better than girls. There was a song that went "Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you" and I remember the boys in the playground singing this at my friends and I when we were younger. If one boy starts this song, then other boys are bound to join in and model the behavior because they're receiving attention. And I found that it was always the popular group of boys to sing this song to the girls. This might influence their learning because it could inhibit it. The girls who are being teased may lose, or never develop, high self-efficacy because the boys made them think they couldn't be as good at anything.
The classroom culture in my classroom will be one that aims to always be positive. Kids make mistakes sometimes, but it's better to build them up than to tear them down. As a teacher I will be setting the example of speaking in positive terms, giving compliments rather than speaking poorly of things and working on "good things of the week." Each student will be asked to give another student a positive comment about a good thing they saw that student do, even if it was just picking trash off the ground. This sets the example of positive modeling. Rather than picking on each other like most children do, this process will help the children feel good about themselves and their abilities. This classroom culture will set in motion good modeling practices so the students can one be models to other younger students. Positive words and actions will be visible in class everyday and hopefully this will overcome the negatives or unaccepted things students see about one another.
I like how you included other children as models (because that happens!)
ReplyDeleteYour classroom culture sounds good--most people say they want to keep things positive, but try to think of some of the implicit rules of being a member of your classroom and how you could communicate that each day.